With the recent passage of the bill in New York State that legalizes abortion up to the second the child is born, much discussion has ensued.  There is outrage over this obvious legalization of murder.

There should not be.

You read that correctly: there should not be outrage over this. It has been legal since 1973. The outrage is 46 years overdue.

It makes sense that New York, with a Democratic Party-controlled legislature and governorship, in anticipation of the end of the term of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, are hedging their position in anticipation of the overturning of the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade.  If overturned, abortion does not suddenly become unlawful; the issue of abortion reverts to the jurisdiction of the states.  The lawmakers of New York recognize this and have acted pre-emptively.

Back to the baby.  We recognize a newborn baby as a child – fully human, alive and well.  The human life possessed by this newborn is protected by laws against murder.  Both sides agree that murder is against the law (let's hope).  We are outraged now that in New York (and Alaska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Vermont, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and D.C.), state law has ripped away the mask, and we can see this "choice" for what it really is.  It's murder.

Outrage.  It is outrageous that a fully viable, live, perfectly innocent child can be killed legally in these states at the moment before she is born.  That is crazy town, and we are in it.

Abortion just prior to the moment of birth is murder.  We have consensus on that, it seems.

But what if it's the day before the due date when the mother chooses abortion?  Would that be at all different?  No, that is still a full-term live human child.  What about the day before that?  Two days before the due date, is there any difference?  No.  She is still a child.

What about the third day before the due date?  She is still a child; she's just younger and pre-born.

What about the day before that?  Or the day before that?  Or a month before the due date?  We all know people who were born premature, some by many weeks, and are now fully functioning, healthy adult American citizens.

Have American citizens thought this through to its logical conclusion?  At some point, life begins.  A baby has a detectable heartbeat seven weeks after conception.  Should we be stopping a human heartbeat as a "choice"?

Our society has finally awakened to the awful, terrible reality that abortion is murder.  It took a sanguinary New York law to wake us up.  It took 46 years for America to actually look at what abortion is – the taking of a baby's life.

Dave Thomas is a Christian, aircraft engineer, husband, father, and grandfather, who resides in Waxahachie, Texas.  He is not the founder of Wendy's restaurants.